Getting Geeky With The Hollywood Fringe Festival

For those living in the Los Angeles area, the Hollywood Fringe Festival is upon you. Perhaps you might have seen their flags flown throughout the city or perhaps you might have heard whispers of it from your actor friends yapping away about which fringe play to watch. And you go, “What the heck IS the Hollywood Fringe Festival?”

The Hollywood Fringe Festival is an annual, open-access, community-derived event celebrating freedom of expression and collaboration in the performing arts community. Since 2010, each June the arts infiltrate the Hollywood neighborhood: Fully equipped theaters, parks, clubs, churches, restaurants and other unexpected places host hundreds of productions by local, national, and international arts companies and independent performers. This year’s festival includes diverse offerings from a wide range of performing arts genres. The majority of shows are either ensemble theatre, solo performance, or comedy. However, attendees will also find cabaret, musical theatre, dance shows, and a new category — immersive theatre. All of these are presented in dozens of spaces throughout central Hollywood, offering something for everyone.

For the first time ever, I will be repping our NOC flagship to cover this festival so there will be more articles coming as I will not only be writing about the plays but the numerous special events that will pop up. This year, they currently have 375 shows registered for this year’s festival. Yes that’s right, for the entire month of June, there will be 375 shows registered to perform over 2,000 performances throughout the festival.

So with 375 choices to choose from, where does one possibly start?? Here are the few that caught my attention:

A Fringe Scholarship winner, Secret Identity Crisisis a one-man show examining white-washing, Asian masculinity, power vs. race, and more — all through the secret identities of American superheroes. Created by Paul Yen, this show hits all the check marks of what our blog is all about and thus a no-brainer in one of the shows you must check out. It will be performing at the Underground-Annex on 1308 N. Wilton Pl. LA, CA 90028.

A musical about Comic-Con featuring original music, diverse cast, and weaving in classic convention scenes like cosplayers, singing and long lines everywhere? Say no more, Comic-Con The Musicalsounds like a grand time for anyone who has experienced the convention life. Dressing up in cosplay is highly encouraged. It will be performing at the Sacred Fools Theater-Second Stage on 6320 Santa Monica Blvd. LA, CA 90038.

A feminist Restoration classic written in the 1600s by Margaret Cavendish, but updated with 1980s overtones, Loves Adventures also features a diverse cast including yours truly rocking out a total Edward Scissorhands/My Chemical Romance garb. Yes, this is totally the selfish plug but for those who are interested in seeing a kick-ass feminist tale washed with total ’80s love, check this show out. It will be performing at the Dorie in the Complex Theatres on 6476 Santa Monica Blvd. LA, CA 90038.

In a blend of contemporary and folk theater, The King’s Language whimsically retells a historical milestone of a nation’s identity as a people through rhythmic beats of a native drum punctuated with song and movement. Written and directed by Chris Yejin, it will be performing at the Sacred Fools Theater-Second Stage on 6320 Santa Monica Blvd. LA, CA 90038.

Also a Fringe Scholarship winner, Chatter is a play about the voices in our head that belittle and berate us, portrayed by an ensemble cast primarily featuring black women. It will be performing at the Underground-Uptown on 1312 N. Wilton Pl. LA, CA 90028.

A playful, deep, audience-interactive heavy solo show, Hey Hollywood, My Hustle Has A.D.H.D., South Asian American performer Rasika Mathur explores her A.D.H.D. diagnosis and the “model minority” stereotype in a comedic format. This too was also Fringe Scholarship winner and looks to be a must-see. It will be performing at the Lounge Theater on 6201 Santa Monica Blvd. LA, CA 90038.

Breather caught my attention because of its Taiwanese American writer, Marilyn Fu, who is an up-and-comer repped by CAA and Untitled and has written/co-produced a past feature film starring Kal Penn with another film in Development at LionsGate. Her play will be a great way to see how her written work fares on stage as well as catching Filipina American actress Camille Mana as one of the leads. It will be performing at the Stephanie Feury Theatre-Asylum on 5636 Melrose Ave LA, CA 90038.

And there you have it. Although these are only eight measly selections, I will be sure to tune in through the NOC Twitter account as well as provide new articles to continuously give updates in other shows to check out. If you’re also in the L.A. area and have shows I should check out, feel free to tweet me at @cinnabonmonster.